Paul Gatza: 2,500 Breweries and Counting

So, it’s not the reported 3,200 or so breweries that were around in 1870, but the U.S. passed a major milestone recently thanks to the craft beer movement: 2,500.

In fact, there are 2,514 breweries currently in operation in the U.S., according to statistics from Brewers Association Director Paul Gatza.

Gatza wrote on the organization’s blog yesterday that 767 new breweries have launched in the last two years and, by his count, another 1,559 breweries are currently in the planning stages. And even though a staggering 422 breweries opened in the last year alone, Gatza said he doesn’t see the trend slowing quite yet.

“I wouldn’t expect the rate of opening to continue at over two new breweries per day on average, but it sure looks like I’ll be posting about passing 3,000 breweries sometime in 2014,” he wrote.